Association found in breach of Home Standard over safety failings

News13 Mar 2019Tim Clark

A housing association has been found to have put tenants at risk by breaching the Home Standard, after failing to identify and remedy serious fire safety and structural issues at one of its properties.

Picture: Getty

A judgement published by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) said London-based Kinsman Housing failed to act, despite knowing about the safety risks at the property for a “considerable period of time”.

The RSH was alerted to the issue after a third party informed it that Kinsman had not adequately responded to potential issues with the structural safety of a property and that it had concerns about the safety of gas, fire and electrical installations.

The regulator slammed Kinsman last year for selling homes meant for social housing on the open market. It ruled that Kinsman had handed over proceeds from the homes, which it had sold at full market value, to its investor.

The RSH stated in its ruling: “This means that for a considerable period of time, Kinsman did not have assurance that its building was safe and that tenants were not at risk of harm. Surveys commissioned by Kinsman between September and December 2018 identified significant defects and repairs issues, including works required to ensure fire safety.”

A subsequent survey carried out by Kinsman in December identified some serious and wide-ranging concerns in relation to fire safety. In addition, a fire risk assessment for the building dated January last year concluded that while the risks were tolerable, follow-up actions were needed to ensure the property and its tenants were safe.

The judgement noted: “These risks were known about for a considerable period of time and the evidence demonstrates that Kinsman was extremely slow to act when concerns were raised and failed to identify significant risks.

“This resulted in a considerable period of time elapsing before a plan to resolve these matters was produced. Kinsman is now making progress in delivering the actions required.

“Tenants were potentially exposed to an unknown risk of danger over a long period of time. Fire safety is self-evidently important because of the potential for serious harm to tenants.

“Taking into account the seriousness of the issues and the duration for which tenants were potentially exposed to risk, the regulator has concluded that it is proportionate to find that Kinsman has breached the Home Standard and that there was a risk of serious detriment to tenants during this period.”

Kinsman has been contacted for comment.